This year at PAX Prime, Square Enix is having a Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn launch event. We were lucky enough to not only attend the event (a full write up of which will be posted in the coming days) but to also have a chance to sit down with Director/Producer Naoki Yoshida and Sound Director Masayoshi Soken to talk about the game.

Check out all the juicy details, including some lovely vocal work from Soken-san after the break!

Yoshida: Thank you for coming today and keeping such an open mind, not only the western players but the western media as well. As you know, we had the hard first launch, we released a Final Fantasy that didn’t feel like a Final Fantasy at all. Over these past 3 years, instead of scrapping it we decided to rebuild it from the ground up and the western media has been really receptive to this. You’ve kept an open mind instead of saying “oh you failed that first time we’re not gonna look at it again” and instead saying “oh you’re trying again, this is a great challenge” and giving us this second chance is something that has been really great for us and we thank you for.

Because of the bad reception and history that we’ve had with 1.0, we believed there would be a slower start for 2.0. We didn’t expect the type of reception that we’ve gotten. So this is why we’ve had the server trouble, because we didn’t think people would be as open and give us this second chance. People have come in and said OK lets forget about the past and try this new game and because of that we had way more people than we expected. We’ve been working hard to fix them and by next week we’ll have new servers and new methods to combat the overloads on the data servers.

In the past few years we’ve always talked about the three pillars that we have built FFXIV ARR on- Great story, great graphics and a great game experience. On top of that is the community from 1.0 that has been supporting us through thick and thin and now we have this new group coming in to build this strong community based on these three pillars and the existing foundations. We finally have the Final Fantasy XIV that we’ve been looking for. Now we’re going to take this and continue for the next 5 or 10 years, continue building on this and making something great and sticking with the game.

Also, we would like to add that there was a little bit of miss communication before- we said you couldn’t monetize videos of the game on Youtube. We’ve taken that back and will allow players to post on Youtube without any kind of penalties- we won’t be taking your money. We want as many players to get their videos up there as possible. We’ve realized that was wrong and fixed that right away.

GE: Right now in the game, Conjurer has a Unicorn mount. Can we expect to see mounts for other classes?

Yoshida: We have plans for things like that in the future. One of the reasons we decided to have this Unicorn mount is because we needed more people to play Conjurer. In the future, maybe when level caps are raised and we need more players in certain roles, we can offer these types of incentives to get players to try out those roles.

Maybe a tank one will come next… (laughs)

GE: When can we expect to see additional Primals like Ramuh, Leviathan and Shiva? When can we expect to see Free Company primals? And lastly… who is going to summon Shiva?!

Yoshida: We have plans for 2.2- new Primals, ones that new players haven’t even imagined. For 2.1 we’re going to bring back Good King Moogle Mog, as well as add a new level of Titan, Garuda and Ifrit battles… super, hard, ultra, hyper… we don’t know what we’ll call them yet.

As for Ramuh, Leviathan and Shiva…one will be appearing in 2.2 but we can’t say anymore right now because it affects the story line.

Shiva will be the Primal of a beast tribe that no one has seen.

As for when the Free Companies will be able to summon the Primals, we’re thinking 2.2 or 2.3. That’s when the Primals will start entering the fields.

GE: In ARR, there are some tracks that are arrangements of music from previous Final Fantasy games. Are there any tracks from the series that you would like to add in the future from previous titles in the series?

Soken: Well, we have the Crystal Tower so… yeah. That stuff is pretty much done. It’s really good! For the Crystal Tower, we’re going to put in a type of interactive music, where the type of music changes depending on what’s going on. Not just in battles, but as well as just walking through. It will all change depending on what it’s going on, so it’ll be very interactive.

GE: There are some characters we know are in ARR, but we haven’t seen them yet… when will we see Hildibrand and Gilgamesh?

Yoshida: We can tell you that there will be new Hildibrand quests in the next patch, in 2.1. Gilgamesh is not further off, at the latest we’re thinking 2.2 or 2.3. But Hildibrand is next- he’s back! And as annoying as ever.

We made a little jingle especially for the Hildibrand F.A.T.E.S!

GE: HILDIBRAND F.A.T.E.S?!

Yoshida: (laughs) yeah!

GE: Are you fighting alongside him or against him?

Yoshida: We can’t tell you! But there are Hildibrand F.A.T.E.S and there’s a special jingle for it

Soken: (sings Hildibrand F.A.T.E jingle)

GE: When can we expect to see the events with Lightning? What are other characters you’re looking at including? You’ve ‘mentioned Cloud and Sephiroth in past interviews…

Yoshida: With Cloud and Sephiroth, those were more of ones we would never bring into Final Fantasy XIV. They have a lot of hardcore fans, and if you just brought them into FFXIV you would create a lot of hate. When you use those characters you have to be very, very careful.

Lightning is a tie-in, so we have the release of Lightning Returns coming, so you would expect we would try to do something around that time.

Then again, this is not the last event of the season we still have Tokyo Game Show coming up (sighs), and there’s probably going to be some kind of announcement probably around then.

GE: Can we expect to see some FFXIII arrangements for these events?

Soken: The music for Lightning Returns is already done, so rather than arranging it and making it something different, we’re going to just use that music. The music that they have are already great songs, so instead of trying to change them we’re going to use them as they are because they’re so good.

Yoshida: That song… you’ll hear that song. That song… that song.

GE: Thanks for being so detailed. (room laughs)

The Gold Saucer has been mentioned a lot, but we haven’t had to many details on it. How is that going?

Yoshida: The reason we haven’t been talking about it is because we’ve been working on it. When we stop talking about something, it’s probably because we’re busy working on it. I talk way too much, and the devs hate me for that.

Right now we’re in the planning stages for it. We have to have three things completed before we can start and open the Gold Saucer. They could be a mini game, maybe a card game, maybe a snowboarding game. We can’t say which, but there has to be three to open it. Right now on the current schedule we’re thinking it will be after 2.3.

The Gold Saucer has been mentioned a lot, but we haven’t had to many details on it. How is that going?

Yoshida: The reason we haven’t been talking about it is because we’ve been working on it. When we stop talking about something, it’s probably because we’re busy working on it. I talk way too much, and the devs hate me for that.

Right now we’re in the planning stages for it. We have to have three things completed before we can start and open the Gold Saucer. They could be a mini game, maybe a card game, maybe a snowboarding game. We can’t say which, but there has to be three to open it. Right now on the current schedule we’re thinking it will be after 2.3.

That makes me warm and fuzzy. I can't wait. Although, 3 months per major patch, after 2.3, that's earliest 2.4, 3 x 4 = 12. We have one year until that opens, at a minimum. I'm cool with that. Perhaps that can be in a full out expansion then?

Primals will exist in the world, once defeated by a Free Company, the Free Company will gain the ability to call it forth. Once called, it's essence goes back into the Aether and it will eventually spawn again waiting for another group to defeat it.

I can't say I like the idea of FFXIII characters making an appearance, but at the same time I deeply appreciate the "untouchable" nature of, say, Cloud et al.

Conversely, since XIII is a contemporary game, it's fine (even expected) to have a cameo here and there, provided it's nothing too distracting and it remains quite separate from the events of XIV itself. After all, Tactics A2 featured Vaan; Tactics had Cloud (a relatively new character at the time); and so forth.

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"... he called to himself a wizard, named Gallery, hoping by this means to escape the paying of the fifteen hundred crowns..." (Machen 15)

"Thus opium is pleasing... on account of the agreeable delirium it produces." (Burke para.6)

"I could only read so much for this paper and the syphilis poem had to go."

I can't say I like the idea of FFXIII characters making an appearance, but at the same time I deeply appreciate the "untouchable" nature of, say, Cloud et al.

Conversely, since XIII is a contemporary game, it's fine (even expected) to have a cameo here and there, provided it's nothing too distracting and it remains quite separate from the events of XIV itself. After all, Tactics A2 featured Vaan; Tactics had Cloud (a relatively new character at the time); and so forth.

In Southern Thanalan, there are FATEs involving the Corpse Brigade of FFT fame. The final boss of that FATE quest chain is none other than Milluda (sp?) herself. It was such an amazing and well done shout out to one of my favorite games that I was geeking out for quite a few minutes. I think if they continue to use FATEs in that manner, it's going to do a lot for us older FF fans.

A lot of XI characters are floating around in XIV too. Raubhan, for example, was one of the generals in Aht Urghan in XI and played a major role in the blue mage storylines. He's much more of a badass in ARR, and I'm grateful for that cuz he was kind of a wimp in XI.

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FFXI: Catwho on Bismarck: Retired December 2014

Thayos wrote:

I can't understand anyone who skips the cutscenes of a Final Fantasy game. That's like going to Texas and not getting barbecue.

GE: When can we expect to see the events with Lightning? What are other characters you’re looking at including? You’ve ‘mentioned Cloud and Sephiroth in past interviews…

Yoshida: With Cloud and Sephiroth, those were more of ones we would never bring into Final Fantasy XIV. They have a lot of hardcore fans, and if you just brought them into FFXIV you would create a lot of hate. When you use those characters you have to be very, very careful.

It's pretty much like how you could unlock Cloud in FF Tactics. Not a main attraction of the game, just a little fun tie-in to another game in the series. It worked just fine then.